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Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

So, I figured it was about time on here for a Twice Blessed thread that wasn't about how much it is a "rip off" of OoTS. Well, today we officially added a third person to our creative team, Miss Joanna Materek, so from now on I will focus on the writing, Gen will focus on the penciling, and Joanna will focus on the coloring and shading. Check it out!

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

Also, on the topic of hiring people in terms of a less long-term position, does anyone know any good website designer to recommend who charges "competitive rates" (ie, affordable.)

How much do you consider to be affordable?

Originally Posted by Telok

Imagine if the combat system was as well thought out and explained as the skill system. You could cut it down to a page and a half, monsters would be about three sentences long. Best of all you don't have to remember any tables for conditions or detail the special abilities because you've got rulings instead of rules.

Originally Posted by Artanis

I'm going to be honest, "the Welsh became a Great Power and conquered Germany" is almost exactly the opposite of the explanation I was expecting

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

Originally Posted by gadren

A few hundred dollars, maybe more? Can't go into four digits. I've never hired a web designer before, so I don't know at what point I'm being insulting.

Well, they're usually paid by the hour, so even with a cheap designer you're probably going to go over the $500 mark easily, and are quite likely to be looking at over $1000 by the end. A competent designer will charge more, but also work faster, with the advantage that the end product will look better. All in all, it really depends on how much you want done (your average custom Wordpress theme with ComicPress won't cost you nearly as much as, say, the entire feature suite on a comic like Penny Arcade with a forum and a store and fifty million bells and whistles).

If you have the time, I would really recommend learning HTML/CSS yourself (you don't really need to know PHP to make Wordpress themes, you just need google-fu, because chances are someone's already figured out your problem). This also makes upkeep easier, because down the line you will almost certainly want to add some of the aforementioned bells and/or whistles and it's a lot easier working with your own code than having to dig through someone else's, even if you do know the language.

Originally Posted by Telok

Imagine if the combat system was as well thought out and explained as the skill system. You could cut it down to a page and a half, monsters would be about three sentences long. Best of all you don't have to remember any tables for conditions or detail the special abilities because you've got rulings instead of rules.

Originally Posted by Artanis

I'm going to be honest, "the Welsh became a Great Power and conquered Germany" is almost exactly the opposite of the explanation I was expecting

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

Originally Posted by Emperordaniel

Yeah, I'm sure she'll be in complete control of that thing... ...whatever it is.

I won't say outright what it is, but I left some pretty strong hints, and by this page you should be able to figure out what that thing is and how Lyrinda knows Pella if you read back over the comic and pay attention to what might seem like unimportant details.

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

Originally Posted by gadren

I won't say outright what it is, but I left some pretty strong hints, and by this page you should be able to figure out what that thing is and how Lyrinda knows Pella if you read back over the comic and pay attention to what might seem like unimportant details.

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

Originally Posted by Flickerdart

All in all, it really depends on how much you want done (your average custom Wordpress theme with ComicPress won't cost you nearly as much as, say, the entire feature suite on a comic like Penny Arcade with a forum and a store and fifty million bells and whistles).

This. I'd throw you an offer (my S.O. and I are dabbling in website designing, both amateurs), but I have no idea how much you want done. Only visual design? A forum? Another update system? A new site from scratch? A store? Galleries?

If you want a simple, static site (aka, with the content it has now, no interactive elements), I have to echo the suggestion to learn HTML yourself. Have one of your artists design the site, then program it yourself. It may look intimidating, but html is very simple once you learn the basics. This is a great ressource - I programmed my own first website with this.

Oh, and the new artwork looks great! Very fitting for a fantasy story - kudos to your colourist

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

The new colours is lovely, altho I kinda agree with some that it doesn't fit the comedic tone of the comic. The pastel palette and dreamlike feel gives me the impression that it's a romance story. Sharper and more saturated colours would better suit I think. Still, great work so far. :D

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

I'm not convinced Pella's marksmanship is that great--she was aiming at Cade, yet her arrow managed to pass through a teleport thingy which is clearly some distance above his head; even if it hadn't been there that arrow would have missed.

By the way, I'm coming to the conclusion that I preferred the much simpler shading that was used in the early strips--I find the new style just makes me think everything is fuzzy and out of focus. This is probably just me being weird, though!

Re: Twice Blessed: Now with art upgrade.

Originally Posted by factotum

I'm not convinced Pella's marksmanship is that great--she was aiming at Cade, yet her arrow managed to pass through a teleport thingy which is clearly some distance above his head; even if it hadn't been there that arrow would have missed.

By the way, I'm coming to the conclusion that I preferred the much simpler shading that was used in the early strips--I find the new style just makes me think everything is fuzzy and out of focus. This is probably just me being weird, though!

In TB, portals can slightly alter the paths of projectiles due to a slight warp in gravity and mass.